Trailblazers
by HopelessHueman
Summary: In a tale reminicent of Anime Animal’s Vagabond, Zelda has been kicked out of Hyrule by a tyrant while Link is held captive, and Zelda will do anything to get him and her kingdom back.


A/N: I've been a big reader of a lot of LoZ fanfiction, and I thought it was about time I gave a little back to the community. One of my all time favorite stories was anime animal's Vagabond, but sadly they stopped adding entries almost 12 _years_ ago. They haven't added an entry since, but in their honor I dedicate _Trailblazers; _A tale where the tables are turned and it's Zelda who must do some rescuing. This takes place pre-BotW, but I will be focusing on elements (and characters) of Majora's Mask as well. Enough with all this, I present the sample/premier of Trailblazers.

Disclaimer: As much as I want to, I don't (nor will I ever) own the Legend of Zelda franchise

— ./ seamless transition . —

Zelda couldn't quite remember the last time she'd sat in a tavern without her hood up. It was a terribly boring day, and Zelda felt like, just this once, she would treat herself to a tavern visit. This one was named "The Demon's Flask," which would have given the princess a nasty premonition if not for that it was the only tavern option for miles around. Zelda quietly nursed a terrible-tasting ale that filled her throat with a tingling feeling whenever she swallowed, when a short and lean man made his way to her table. She caught a glimpse of him sneaking into her line of sight, and carefully made sure that her hood was securely protecting her facial features from view. The man sneered, showing off his crooked nose, clearly from too many brawls like the one he was trying to start.

"Hey there, bud, whazza matter? Ya look like you're hiding from your good ol' pals over here! You don't want to offend us, do ya?" The man accentuated the last to words with a threatening note, and a small group at another table laughed quietly from a few tables over. Zelda sat there quietly, saying nothing and taking another large gulp of ale to prevent her from speaking out of turn. The man frowned. "Come on there, it's almost as if you're _hiding _something! That **surely** couldn't be the case..." The man reached to pull down her hood when he found his hand grabbed by an angry looking visitor.

"Leave him alone, Flynn. You're going to scare away new customers," the visitor mused.

"Yeah, yeah, like you would care! As I recall, ya got fired years ago! Let me at this suspect and I'll leave ya out of the beatin'" Flynn countered. The visitor sighed and forcefully flung Flynn's hand away from the newcomer's hood. Zelda took the chance to move one chair over and aim a finger backwards towards Flynn, in case things got any uglier. "You're gonna get it fer that one, _buddy," _Flynn spoke dangerously and added a punch to the last syllable, aiming square towards the visitor's nose. The visitor sidestepped and used that momentum to swing into another punch, coming around to make contact with Flynn's cheek.

"You know you're outclassed, Flynn. Just leave them alone and go back to your business," the visitor stepped back after another punch was aimed towards his face. Flynn took this statement with no concern, and instead interpreted it as 'go straight to the customer instead' Flynn kicked around the visitor's midriff, which finally made contact. He whipped around and aimed to pull off the newcomer's hood. Zelda anticipated the move, but decided to do nothing. Over the years, she had become a bit of a drama queen. Flynn snagged off the hood and caught a glimpse of the golden locks underneath. Flynn stayed there for a moment without punching, and Zelda turned around in a way that made sure he would be able to see a small portion of her face. Flynn stopped dead in his tracks, backing up as the princess aimed a bolt of kinetic energy at his chest, knocking him backwards as she put her hood calmly back up, walking over towards the entrance without a second thought. The table of Flynn's origin muttered amongst themselves before a man got up and lumbered slowly towards Zelda. The man was at least a foot and a half taller than the princess and 4 times as bulky, and as he lumbered over he drew a dagger from a scabbard attached to his belt.

"Tha' was my pardner you decided to launch," the man spoke in a suitably deep and ominous voice. Zelda was unfazed, but she didn't really want to transform the tavern into steaming rubble... He obviously was going to go for the kill, despite Flynn's decided aliveness. He wasn't very intelligent. Zelda contemplated her options as quickly as possible, which was easy enough with both her Triforce and natural cunning. She couldn't use the same kinetic blast as she did with Flynn (it would do nothing), she couldn't use a larger one without wrecking the tavern, she couldn't use a ball of mana, she couldn't burn or drown him, she was nearly hopeless with a sword... She decided upon her option. It was time to her to start running very, very quickly in the exact opposite direction. It seemed like a cowardly move but, hey, after years of being hunted she had learned that cowardice was usually the most peaceful move. She was about to put this plan in action when the visitor slid in front of the man with his sword drawn. Zelda stopped, she didn't want to leave if it meant her rescuer would get injured, no matter how decidedly brash and aggressive he was. It wasn't fair for him to do something like that and for her to run away, was it? And it's possible that someone at Flynn's table would have blocked the door anyways. So she watched.

The man turned out to be a lot less potent than he looked. He lunged at the visitor with a mighty swipe, and the visitor moved out of the way at the last possible second, and when the brute tumbled forward with a lack of flesh to sink his dagger into, the visitor grabbed his back and pushed him even more forward, sending him tumbling to the ground. There was a mighty _thump_ as his skull made contact with the hard tavern floor, and the visitor began to walk slowly away in victory. _That wasn't nearly as interesting as when he fights_, Zelda thought, turning her attention back to a few old memories. Zelda flashed a rare smile for a moment before she caught a sliver of movement in the corner of her eye. She did something risky, something she wouldn't have normally thought about if this man hadn't saved her life. She pulled down the mask covering the rest of her features.

"Watch out!" She yelled loudly in the visitor's direction. With a speed she didn't think was possible from a brute like him, the man in the floor sprung up and slashed the visitor's back with his dagger. The visitor didn't hear the princess' warning in time, and the blade made solid contact, cutting through his tunic easily and finding its way through the flesh in his back. He slumped to the ground as Zelda rushed over with her hand outstretched and glowing a faint green with the light of a healing spell. The light made contact with the visitor's wound, the dried blood still staining his tunic but no more pouring out, and the wound closed slowly as if it was being threaded by invisible sutures. The brute that had injured him threw Zelda a nasty snarl.

"You dirty _witch_," he threatened her with a glare that bore into her eyes like little termites. She gave a snarl right back to him before grabbing the visitor's wrist and pulling him up, rushing to the door.

"What the _hell_ did you just do to me? Are you some sort of sorceress? If you are, what are you doing all the way out here in bandit country? Shouldn't you be a hire of Hyrule, or a kingdom past here?"

"If breathing is something you'd like to continue doing I'd suggest that you stop asking questions and show me where you keep your horse," Zelda replied with a hint of annoyance.

"I, er... I don't have a horse."

"You don't have a _what?!"_

"Well, I don't _own_ a horse, I had one that I rented and that's why I was staying here, but she's back with her master and I don't actually own one of my own, and why are we running anywa-"

"Gods, do you ever stop talking?" She berated him with some humor in her voice, quickly muttering a 'follow me' before leading him to the buy-in stables where her stallion, Anansi, was being held. Zelda stole a quick glance behind her shoulder and saw that the group from the tavern was still pursuing them. That was strange, usually tavern brawlers would give up when their 'prey' left. Her heart skipped an unhappy beat when they yelled behind her-

"Give it up, _princess, _we know who you are! We're going to get you for it this time, Kingsley! You were harboring a criminal!"

The visitor, presumably Kingsley, turned about as pale as a sheet could be. "Er, if you wouldn't mind, now would be a good time to **HURRY UP PLEASE!**" Zelda chuckled despite the grim sentiment, and she rushed into the wide stable doors with Kingsley in tow. "Stand guard for a moment, please," Zelda muttered, fiddling with the knot hitching her horse to a post near the door. She had not expected this to be a long trip, and in that sense she was strangely right.

"What do you mean, _stand guard_, if they came in now it would be 7 to 1! I can't deal with these kinds of odds!" Kingsley spewed a healthy bout of colorful language before drawing his sword with a sigh. Zelda finally unhitched her horse and got the saddle in working conditions, and she mounted just as their pursuers entered. They weren't far behind in the first place, the pair were lucky at how long it took them.

"You know what may improve your odds? Grabbing my hand and getting on the horse instead of staying here and trying your luck," Zelda voiced. Kingsley, once again, lost a bit of color but quickly corrected his expression and pulled himself onto the saddle, functioningly ignoring Zelda's outstretched arm. Zelda snapped the reins, making a sound like lightning cracking at the Earth. She yelled a "hyah!" as Anansi cantered out of the stable, knocking one of their pursuers airborne as she did so.

— ./ seamless transition . —

They had been riding for a couple of hours when Kingsley broke the short barrier of silence. They had talked somewhat on the way, a majority of it being Zelda apologizing for getting him into this mess. They tried to avoid the fact that they had just met and were sharing a horse, not to mention that they were on the run (which wasn't new to Zelda, but still). "Er, Princess? If I may ask... What's your actual name?" Zelda laughed. "Why didn't you ask sooner? Gods, I'm starting to lose my manners. Apologies, Kingsley," Zelda mused, mostly to herself. Kingsley was passing the time by twiddling his thumbs. "You may call me Zelda, first and only true princess of Hyrule and rightful heir to the throne. When I kick out the current tyrants, that is." Kingsley stopped twiddling. "_The_ Princess Zelda? Legendary sorceress and Harkinian's daughter? I've heard stories about you! About how you can stop an army with a wave of your hand, how you can summon fire from the depths of the earth's reaches! I'm surprised I didn't piece it together earlier, what with that stuff in the tavern. The stories are banned, now, anyways," Kingsley ranted as Zelda glanced back at him with an annoyed, but slightly impressed, expression.

"And there was that story about how you had found the Great Dragon of the Spring of Power and tamed it just by touching its forehead, and that story where you stopped a rampaging giant on the outer brinks of Rito territory, or how you beat a minion of Nayru in a contest of wits, and that time when they say..."

Zelda sighed as she leaned forwards in her saddle, planting her chin lightly into her stallion's mane. This was going to be a long ride.

— ./ uwu . —

A/N (again): I hope you enjoyed this first mini sample of Trailblazers! Please make sure to review if you have any advice, as this is my first time writing on this platform

Thanks everyone, happy adventuring!


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